Birmingham man whose family built Spitfires at Castle Bromwich backs Mail campaign to bring plane home from Burma

A Birmingham man whose family helped to build Spitfires in the city during the war, today backed the Mail’s campaign to bring a Burma Spitfire back home.

For Sutton Coldfield resident Derek Meadows, the old Spitfire Factory at Castle Bromwich evokes special memories of the role his family played in supporting the war efforts – and the cost in terms of personal tragedy.

Derek, who lives in Wylde Green, never knew his grandfather, Thomas Hatton, as he was killed when a bomb exploded yards away from the family home in Berwood Farm Road, Wylde Green, when the German Luftwaffe were attempting to bomb the Castle Bromwich Spitfire plant in 1940.

Derek’s father and mother, Leslie and Irene Meadows, met while they both worked at the factory assembling the planes.

Birmingham Mail Spitfire campaign

Leslie had moved to Wylde Green from Suffolk when he fell in love with Irene Hatton, who also lived in Wylde Green, as they worked together assembling the fighter planes.

Derek, aged 59, said: “They married at Erdington Parish Church on June 19, 1943, and after their wedding day they still carried on assembling the Spitfires, fortunately surviving any bombings that took place in the area around the Spitfire factory.

“My mother eventually left the factory, but my father stopped there as a sheet metal worker, and the factory was then known as Fisher and Ludlow, and then over the years it changed to British Leyland, producing cars, and of course, now it is the Jaguar factory.

Derek’s father and mother, Leslie and Irene Meadows, in 1943. The couple met while they both worked at the factory assembling Spitfires

“My father worked there until he retired in 1979.”

Derek paid tribute to the city’s “local heroes” who lost their lives as well as those in the army, navy and air force who bravely fought for our country.

He said: “Myself and my family have lived in Wylde Green for 30 years, and we think it would be ideal to have a memorial stone placed in the Wylde Green area, remembering all the local civilians of Wylde Green who sadly lost their lives during the Battle Of Britain.

“We must all remember the Spitfire Factory at Castle Bromwich, and honour all the people that worked there assembling the planes.

Workers in the Spitfire Factory at Castle Bromwich

“If it wasn’t for the people who worked at such places as the Spitfire factory, and, of course, the fighting heroes on the front line, then who knows where we would be today.”

“Therefore we must have a least one Spitfire to put on show in Birmingham, ideally in a Spitfire Museum where all the memorabilia could be on display.”